The Lost Land
by JTheGoblinKing
Summary: Something I wrote years ago.


Disclaimer: The following is an old Labyrinth fan fiction I wrote for a Labyrinth fan fiction group years. Labyrinth belongs to Henson. Most, if not all, of the Labyrinth fan fiction I am going to post here is at least ten years old, if not older. You will see the original dates they were written placed into these documents. These fan fictions predate the canon of Return to Labyrinth.

This was written back when I used the nickname Raven.

To: .

Subject: [labyfic] The Lost Land (Part 1 of ?)

From:

Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 22:10:49 EDT

(This was the very first Labyrinth based, spec Fan Fiction that

I had ever attempted to write. I started writing this some years ago but had

never completed it and since it has been sitting on a floppy computer disc

for some years now I thought that perhaps I should post it rather then let it

fade off in to oblivion. Sadly, since it's been such a long while and my

style in writing has changed so drastically in the last few years I have

absolutely no intention of ever completing this. However you might be able

to get a rough idea on how it ends from what is penned out within. If anyone

would like to take up the challenge of writing the end to this piece of

incomplete fiction- (I already know how I had intended to end it but I don't

want to bother.) -please feel perfectly free to take up the completion of

this. But first you must E-mail me first for the official permission to do

so. Thank you.)

The Lost Land

By Raven

Though an incarnation of Jareth is in this story it is not

necessarily The Jareth of The Labyrinth.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"A mortal, in The Underground? Not possible. It simply can not

be, can it? Would the ruler of all, Oberon permit such a thing?"

Geado was more confused then she had ever been in her whole life.

She was over twenty-six winters old and still quite ignorant of the world

around her. She was far from intelligent. But then again what would one

expect from a young hyne who had been the spawn of a brother and sister?

Her whole life she had been taught only three things. Magus

was the ruler of all things good. Jareth was the ruler of all things evil.

And Oberon was the ruler of all and though he had permitted for the survival

of all of his children he had not permitted for the survival of mortals when

the great catastrophe had come. He had forbid the bringing of mortals to The

Underground over a millennia ago but perhaps this child had not been brought

here but actually born here? Was that possible?

Geado was very beautiful but very stupid as well. She was

a golden hyne. Her body was half that of a deer and half that of a woman.

She had golden hair and from the waist down she had a golden pelt and a set

of four golden hoofs at the end of her four golden legs. The only thing

about her that was not tinted gold was her mortal torso, arms and head. She

was a rare and beautiful creature and a drop of her blood on a dagger could

kill an immortal.

She stared dumb founded at her friend Glenda, the old female elf witch.

Glenda had always been kind to Geado though she never knew why. Glenda liked

her friend the golden hyne and now she shared with her the forbidden secret

that she knew of a mortal babe in The Watcher's woods just beyond the goblin

city.

"Eye, 'tis true. Me seen him with me own eyes. It is but a

mortal babe rapped in rags. Come see! Come see. It is just beyond this 're

way." Said Gender excitedly.

Glenda's green flesh was shining with her orange sweat. Her ragged brown

dress had been mended one time too many and was now falling apart. Her

crooked hat was pointed. Her shaggy and tangled pumpkin coloured hair was

matted against her face and the wart on her nose seemed to swell as she

gasped for breath.

Geado stood up and dropped down her wreath of flowers that she had

been weaving for herself.

"Wait." A thought came to Geado's head for the first time all

day. "If this is true and one of the frail race has survived should we not

go and tell the great wizard. He himself had once been mortal too but this

was long before the melting of the word's top and bottom of ice in the great

flood that left only The Underground, the world of the mystics intact."

"Yes, you are right, young one. Quickly we must make haste to tell

this to the wise old wizard."

Though naturally Geado could run much faster then her old friend,

Glenda managed to keep a good pace with her and only tripped twice over her

ragged dress as they made it over the hill to find Magus.

Magus was the name of this old wizard that they ran to find. He had

tended for years the sacred books and scrolls. He was a great wizard and

some said that he had more power then Jareth, The Goblin King.

Magus was wise and very ancient. He wore blue and white robes and

carried with him a stick for walking. He was an ancient creature though he

was not immortal. He was not a mortal either though for once touched with

the gifts of elemental magick and the knowledge of the universal tongue no

one could actually call him a mortal man. He had lived seven mortal

lifetimes and six of them had been spent here in The Underground. He would

die soon. His age alone would not permit him to last for much longer and

this worried him for as the protector of all things good with his death,

Jareth the guardian of evil would take over all.

Magus had studied all the sacred texts including The Scrolls of

Merlin, The Grimorimocnorom, The Necrinomicon, and books so powerful I dare

not speak their names for I might let loose some of the uncontrollable dark

powers that they possess.

Though the trek was quite long Geado and Glenda found him quite

fast. He stood at the edge of the woods where the babe was to be found. He

stood waiting with his walking stick in hand. He could already sense the

presence of Geado and Glenda who were searching for him to tell him the

secret news.

Glenda bowed out of respect as she panted for breath at the sight of him but

before she could speak her mind Geado had said it.

"Master, Magus, in Watcher's woods beyond the Goblin Castle, a-"

For the first time ever Geado saw that the patient old man was

for once not patient at all but inpatient.

He placed up his hand in acknowledgement of the truth. "I know.

There is a mortal child near here. I can sense it. The unicorns have

gathered around the child to watch and see for they are as curious as you

are. I must get to this babe and take it out of those woods before Jareth

can claim it for his own and turn him in to a goblin."

In to the woods the three raced. Geado's hooves helped her to

move exceedingly fast as she was eager to see this mortal babe for herself.

She had never seen a mortal child before. Such a weak and helpless thing was

as rare as a rose in winter.

Magus held tight during the incredibly dangerously fast ride as he

rode on Geado's back.

Geado did not mind his tight embrace about her waist. She cared nothing

about it All she cared about was getting Magus to the babe before Jareth

would know of it.

Running as fast as they could they soon came to a clearing where

countless wondrous creatures had gathered to see the wonder that was a mortal

babe.

Not one of them meant any harm. They only wished to see the

forbidden innocence that was a mortal child.

They were all worried for the child's safety though. It was a

nice and sunny day but soon the sun would set and all the creatures of

darkness would come out and then Jareth's minion would surely destroy the

child.

All felt sorry and did not want to see the innocent babe hurt and

that was why Magus was needed..

Magus leapt from off of Geado's back and took a quick look around so

that he could remember this sacred spot forever.

"But who is the mother?" Asked a simple-minded dwarf named Hoggle.

"Where did it come from?" Asked a leprechaun too young to have

wiseacres.

"Do not let Jareth see." Cried a forest spirit that took the form of a

boy.

"Oh, yes. Oh, yes! We mustn't let Jareth see." Cried a female

pixy woman.

"Clear the way. Clear the way. The master of the light is

coming." A dark skinned mermaid sitting half out of her small pond that sat

at the edge of the clearing cried."

All the creatures made way for Magus, the ruler of the day.

All the creatures that had gathered bowed out of respect for

their loving and kind master, Magus.

Slowly the old and crippled wizard made his way to the babe. He

had rode most of the way on the back of Geado and now it seemed that his weak

legs had forgotten almost completely how to stand.

His tangled white hair brushed in to his eyes as he acknowledged

every creature present with a fond and familiar glance that was as priceless

to them as a blessing from The Goddess, herself.

Using his walking stick he took slow steps to the great oak.

Under the oak two white unicorns sat with their heads bowed. Their

golden horns shown like stars in the day light. It was an amazing sight to

see two of them together. Unicorns had become an endangered race. They all,

having all of them or at least almost all of them refusing to mate as Jareth

had cast a spell on almost all of them causing them to hate one and other

rather then love as was in their nature solely to do. But obviously Jareth's

spell had not been strong enough for here were a couple of unicorns now and

the female looked like she was weighed down with a baby in her belly. This

was a sure sign that with the coming of this mortal the powers of darkness

were weakening.

In between the two unicorns there was a bundle of what looked like

rags but upon closer examination one could see a mortal baby boy reaching out

to the world perhaps for the very first time as it looked fresh from the womb.

The child was small and undersized. A bit of the umbilical cord

remained on his belly where the rest of it was gone.

The baby reached out the moment he saw Magus. He cried and cued

with delight a the sight of him as if he knew already that the ancient wizard

would protect him from the darker beings of The Underground.

The child was beautiful and fragile. It was chubby and it's

hands were small. The child seemed no bigger then a kitten. His flesh was

pink and tender. His eyes shown like little crystal spheres as he looked up

in wonder at the surreal and dangerous world around him.

Magus saw the child and realized that if there had been a mortal

woman around to have given birth to this child she was long gone by now.

"I shall take this child." He said remembering the prophecy that if

one mortal lived that mortal would be the cause of Jareth's down fall and if

Jareth ever was to have a child with a mortal woman then that child would be

Magus's downfall.

Jareth was the ruler of the night and all things that were

dark and unloved.

As Magus ruled the mermaids and unicorns, elves, Leprechauns,

hynes, wood spirits, angels, the living, true immortals, the faery, animals

and any mortals in existence Jareth ruled the demons, vampyres, goblins,

ghouls, Werewolves, ghosts, trolls, gargoyles, beasts, monsters, and the dead.

Some said that once Jareth and Magus had been human, identical

twin brothers but when they found the magick Jareth became true evil and

Magus had become pure good. And to destroy absolute evil such as Jareth one

needed the pure and innocent heart of an untainted mortal and this boy might

be the key to Jareth's undoing.

Though Jareth was Magus' twin he looked several years younger then

Magus and had not one of his faults. Magus was weak and dying where as

Jareth was strong and powerful.

To: .

Subject: [labyfic] The Lost Land (Part 2 of ?)

From:

Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 22:12:22 EDT

Jareth had thick blond hair and fierce blue eyes where as Magus's were

simply gray and white. Jareth dressed as a wealthy prince where as Magus

dressed as the role of a beggar. Jareth had no beard or mustache and looked

like a young mortal prince. He was attractive as evil can sometimes be and

he seemed very young where as it is written that evil is eternal as oblivion.

Both may seem lovely but on the inside they both are very ugly and

frightening.

Magus was old and weak. He was wise and very feeble the way

goodness and innocence can often seem to be. Where Jareth was young

eternally and had no blemishes, Magus was hard to look upon. His hair was as

white as cotton and his eyes were dull and gray. Once many, many moons ago

he had looked just like Jareth but that was far too long ago to remember.

"As the prophecy has written as it shall be." Magus said.

"I shall take this mortal babe and raise him as my own. I shall name him in

mockery of Jareth, Jared."

As Magus said this the child began to cry so Magus scooped him up

into his arms and began to cradle him.

A slight bit of gas rumbled in the belly of the baby and Magus gently

patted him on the back.

The child soon calmed down and fell asleep in his arms as Magus

started his long journey to his home with the baby in his arms. He had to

cross the great planes to get to his home in The valley of forgotten

promises. There he would raise the child until the proper moment when he

would be strong enough to destroy the evil one, Jareth.

What no one noticed was that as Magus took the child up into his arms

one of Jareth's goblins had been watching from the top of a dead tree in the

distance.

The evil creature's eyes were glowing like magick orbs in the

darkness. Her body seemed like a black blob in the darkness.

She was Spinthia. She had the body and face of a beautiful young

woman but she had the wings of a bat and she was no more then a foot high in

measure.

"I must tell the master about this." She climbed out of the

tree and flew off for The Goblin Castle that lay just beyond Watcher's Woods.

In the castle on top of the great hill Jareth sat in his throne

room.

He was a beautiful fiend. He had blond hair and blue eyes as I

mentioned earlier. He did look like a prince. He wore a dark blue cape that

looked almost black in the eternal night like lighting of the castle. He

wore tight black trousers and leather gloves. His hair was blond and thick.

It was full and long as it fell behind his back.

He sat in a bizarre position on his throne laughing at the antics

of an insane troll named Freddie who was singing in the far right corner of

the room.

Freddie had gone mad years before. He was an over sized troll

with rather large bucked teeth and glowing yellow eyes that were blood shot

from lack of sleep. His skin was white as snow and his hair was a mess and

tangled mop of dark see weed that had been dried out.

Jareth had always loved to laugh at Freddie, especially when he was

piss drunk.

Spinthia entered the room through the window in a panic, not

really of the babe but over the reaction she knew her master would have over

the mortal child in his kingdom.

"Master. Master." She called. "Master!"

Jareth erected himself in a proper position on his throne. "Yes,

what is it?"

"Your brother, sir."

"What about my brother?"

"He has taken into his home the last surviving mortal child in this

universe."

"What?!?" Jareth screamed. He reached over to his table along

side of his throne and grabbed a goblet of wine and threw this at Spinthia.

Fortunately for her it missed and shattered against the wall

scaring the one he called Freddie only slightly. Freddie in a panic ran from

the room.

"That child mustn't survive to see his adulthood with Magus.

I alone shall see to that. Rightfully that child should be mine!"

Jareth held out his hand and in it appeared a crystal ball. It

had materialized there suddenly and in it he could see the image of his

brother carrying a mortal child with him to a small cabin in the woods just

outside of Jareth's domain. Jareth could hear from inside the crystal his

brother saying to the child that he would be safe and he would be happy.

"Well, you won't be safe for so very long. Mark my words, little

one. You are going to be mine. So the wretch did give birth! Crafty, that

one is. She told me that it was stillborn. Well, just wait until Magus

learns that his little mortal is really my son.. How ironic my down fall

shall also be my brother's for the child is human but since it is of my blood

it cannot possibly destroy me. I think that I shall make a sport of this one

as I had made it a sport to win the affections of the mother." Jareth broke

out in near hysterical laughter.

"I fancy that this shall be the most fun I've had in a very

long time. I shan't let this bother me. I shall bide my time and when the

moment is right I shall take my son."

Jared grew up without so much as a whisper about his soon to be

enemy Jareth.

Magus had made it a law that no one mention that name in the

presence of Jared and that when the time would come that he would have to

know about the darkness Magus would tell him.

The closest thing to darkness Jared knew of was the night and the

nights were never really all that dark. As far as Jared knew there was

nothing to be afraid of in the dark. He did not know how wrong he was.

He thought that the same things that were in the light were in the

darkness and that nothing really changes when the sun goes down except for a

depthening of the atmosphere.

Jared grew up in the peace and tranquility of The valley of

forgotten promises. He was always happy and never had a reason to feel the

slightest bit discontented. He never minded at all that he was the only

living human in the world. He had grown up in a world mystical and wonderful

creatures, most of which were rare and were perhaps the last of their kind

and he felt perfectly fine. No one told him how special he was that he was

the last human though he did know that he was the last human.

Jared loved laughing. He loved to dance and he loved to dream.

Fantasies and romances that never were surrounded him. His life was a life

of a dreamer and he did not mind for though they were only fantasies that

bloomed like flowers in the valley they would die and be lost forever only to

be replaced by another and another and each one was more beautiful then the

last.

Jared had a whole garden of fantasy blossoms and they were more

precious then diamonds and were scented sweeter then roses and looked more

lovely then Jasmine.

The mermaids taught Jared how to swim and the elves taught him how

to dance and the angels taught him how to sing. The hynes taught him how to

run and the faeries taught him simple tricks that any mortal could do without

learning any true magical secrets.

Magus taught him how to read and write and the unicorns taught him

how to count. He was taught the language of the land that all the creatures

knew and he was taught how to cook and clean and prepare his own food. He

was taught how to bathe and how to dress himself.

He knew nothing of war or battle and the word evil meant nothing

to him. He knew only love and kindness. He knew honestly and he knew almost

nothing of lies and deception.

At the age of sixteen however he was given a surprise.

Jareth had been waiting for a decade and a half for that night.

Patiently he waited for this moment to meet his son. And he loved it that he

was the only one who knew that he was truly Jared's father and that Magus was

his uncle.

Jared slept soundly on the floor of the one roomed cabin that he

and his master, Magus shared. His bed was of the feathers of the roc. It

was soft and warm. He slept soundly through most nights but on this night he

was to be haunted by a most peculiar situation.

It was not a dream but Jared could swear that it was. In the

middle of the night a pale man dressed in black came to him. The man wore a

long hooded cloak and under it Jared could see a mess of thick, long blond

hair. The man smiled at the boy who lay in his bed half awake and half

asleep.

The boy sat up with a start at the sight of this stranger

realizing that it was not a figment of his imagination.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Jared asked in surprise.

"Quiet, child. I have come to tell you the truth about your

past." Said the stranger.

"My past? But I know my past. I have lived my whole life in

this valley as I know no other home. I have no past other then what I

remember and I can remember very far back."

"Ah yes, but do you know who your mother and father were, boy?"

Jared looked down for a moment and then looked into the eyes of

the stranger. Jared did not realize the similarities between him and this

stranger. The stranger only looked about twenty-two years older then he and

though Jared had brown hair the stranger had the same features as he. The

colour of his skin was even the same. The bones of the face and the build

was even the same though Jared did not realize this.

"I have never known my parents, sir. I bid you tell me sir, who

are you and what are you truly doing here? No one knows who my parents

were. I was left in the woods since right after my birth."

"My name is Jareth and though it puts my whole plan in

jeopardy I am your father."

'What?" Jared could not believe it. "You are my father? But

how? Why is it now that you come to me and not before this night have we

met?"

"Your uncle, Magus hates me. Do not tell him that I am your

father or he will have you dead. I know that you must love him dearly but if

you so much as mention the proposal of Jareth fathering a child he will set

out to destroy it. The only reason why he has not killed you is because he

does not realize that you are flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood, bone of

my bone. He believes that you will be the key to destroying me. I believe

that you know the truth now. The answer is right before you now. I am your

father and it was for the means of your own survival that I have never come

to you before this night."

"And Magus hates you?"

"Yes."

"But that is impossible. Magus loves all living creatures."

"All but me."

"And he is your enemy. And if he knew that I was your son then

I would be his enemy too?"

"Yes."

"I will ask him about you then. Without mention of the fact that

I am your son I shall ask him the truth about Jareth."

"There's a good boy. But listen to me again, my son. He shall

twist things. He is a liar and very deceptive. He will make up things and

he will distort the truth. Remember the rules of the land and that you must

never destroy and that you must forever love what brought you in to being.

Do not tell him the truth or we are both doomed."

Jareth then transformed into a white barn owl and flew out of the

window and into the woods.

To: .

Subject: [labyfic] The Lost Land (Part 3 of ?)

From:

Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 22:13:15 EDT

The next day Jared and his mentor, Magus were walking in the

woods together. "Does something trouble you, my boy? I can see it in your

eyes. Something is very wrong with you this day. Are you ill?"

Magus had almost forgotten that a mortal can get sick at any

given time for almost any given reason but the short life of this boy

reminded him of all the pleasures and pains a mortal life had to offer.

"No, master. Nothing bothers me. I was simply thinking. I had

heard one of the elves mention of a man called Jareth. Who is this Jareth,

master and why is it that I have never met him?"

Magus stopped in his tracks and his face became very grave.

"I think that it is time that you and I had a talk. Come sit with me." On

a tuffet of grass Magus sat and gestured for Jared to sit beside him.

Jared sat down beside him. "Who is this Jareth, master?"

"Jareth... Jareth is my immortal enemy. Once when the world was

not divided so perfectly by dark and light we had been brothers. He was my

yin and I his yang but then we discovered the wonders of magick. I used mine

for good and he for evil. He is immortal and I am not . He is the king of

the goblins and all of the creatures of darkness. You were born for the mere

purpose of destroying this devil. He was not meant to be. He is evil."

"But you told me once that it is impossible for pure good or

evil to naturally exist. Nothing exists without a small fraction of it's

opposite. Does not this Jareth have a heart?"

"He does have a heart. It is made of stone though some would

tell you other wise."

"What would some say?"

"Some say that his heart is encased in ice and it only needs something to

cause it to melt. Some say that he is cursed with a frozen heart and that

heart can be good if only the ice would melt but no one knows if this is so

or not. And if this is so then what would cause the ice to melt? Some

think that Jareth is cursed and if his heart would melt then he would fall

into great despair but then again despair is much better then the condition

that he lives in now. He lives in a cold and dark state. He is empty and

filled with longing. He has humor but he can never truly be happy because of

the fact that his heart is frozen. The darkness supposedly holds him

prisoner."

"But then how did his heart become frozen?"

"It might not be true. His heart may just be pure stone. Some

say that it happened when he became an immortal that when the aging stopped

so did the beating of his heart. But to live forever is to live without a

heart beat this is true but not to live without a heart. I believe that true

immortals do have a heart beat but it is just that it beats either too slow

or too fast where you can not even hear it. Jareth on the other hand, I am

not sure about. Some believe that when he partook of the enchanted fruit of

immortality, the ambrosia that something went wrong. His heart skipped a

beat as he took the bite so his heart never would beat again."

"But you said that the only thing that could cause a heart to skipa

beat is the sight of one's true love."

"This is true."

"Then Jareth could love once?"

"Yes. Once he did love. He loved a mortal woman named Adia. Adia

has to be dead by now. It has been three hundred years since he loved her

and I do not think that she was made immortal."

"This is terrible. And you want me to kill this pathetic

creature?"

"He is not pathetic. He is very dangerous. He controls all of

the darkness."

"But don't we need the darkness to counter balance the light?"

"No. As good is necessary evil is not. Evil never was

necessary."

Jared sighed. "But what would happen if Jareth had a child?"

"Then that child would cause my down fall unless of course the child was born

mortal then the child would cause not only my down fall but Jareth's as well."

"I shall fight Jareth, master. I will return the good to all of

this realm. No evil shall be left to speak of once I am victorious."

"Good, lad. That is your destiny."

That night Jared walked alone in the woods. He was confused. He

did not want to kill or destroy anybody. He wanted his father's heart to melt

and he wanted the respect of his master. He also wanted to defy the

prophecy that he would kill his own father and his only master and teacher.

Soon though in the woods Jared came to a witch.

She was not horrid or ugly but very beautiful and quite a sight to

look upon. She was a familiar face to Jared. He had gone to her for

guidance before. Her powers and wisdom were great.

She stood stirring something in her caldron over a fire burning

in the woods.

"Good witch, Angeline, I must learn what can melt the heart of the one

called Jareth."

Angeline stood up and walked away from her work and stood next to

Jared.

Her long white dress blew in the wind as her blond hair swirled

around her head.

"The only thing that can melt the heart of Jareth is the heart of

another willing to sacrifice for him. Then Jareth's eternal heart will beat

but once causing an endless out pouring of love and kindness."

"How do I get to the castle of the goblins?"

"It is a two days travel from here, my boy. You must follow the

sun when it rises tomorrow. That night watch as the sun sets. The great

star shall lead you. When the star is in line with the sun itself then the

path to the castle shall be revealed. You must follow that path that leads

north west for about a day and a half. You will get to a place called

Watcher's woods. Beyond is the Goblin Castle but take heed, lad for the

castle is beyond a haunted woods filled with fiends and tricksters enough to

turn you away or even kill you."

"Thank you, good witch, Angeline."

He tossed the kindly woman a coin and went on his way.

At the castle of the goblins Jareth sat alone in his private

chambers. He could tell almost by instinct that she would come soon. He

could feel her watching him from her secret dimension already. A slight

chill went down his spine at the thought of having to look upon her face once

again. If he could have run from her he would have but he knew that there

was no escaping her.

A white specter soon appeared behind him and he was no longer

alone.

The spirit was of a woman he recognized. He knew her well. She

had haunted him for centuries and he knew of no way to be rid of her.

"Adia." He sighed. He did not turn around to face her but he

knew she was there nonetheless.

"How do you like my trick?" She said with a slight laugh as she

made her way around his throne to face him properly.

Adia was a lovely woman. She, in her life had brown hair and blue

eyes, a very beautiful combination. .She had been beautiful in life and very

kind. She had promised Jareth once that she would love him no matter what

but then again that was when she was alive so Jareth supposed that old

promises and dreams were mal and void.

"You have not appeared in over twenty years, Adia. What trick?"

Jareth asked.

"When we went to the great caves and I was with child. Remember?

You went to take the bite of the enchanted fruit of immortality and I was to

be your bride for all time."

"But you fell backwards and fell off of a cliff. I found your

body. The child I thought was dead. It was not in your womb any longer but

I thought that it had been stillborn though I never found its remains. I had

bitten the fruit as you fell. It is your fault that I am filled with this

emptiness. How dare you come to me now? You haunted me for day and night

for over three hundred years! You tried to torment me but I felt nothing for

your plight. I can feel nothing for you now. My heart stopped that night

years ago. I am as dead as you are."

'You loved me once."

"I also felt things once. Shouldn't you be on your way to Tarterus

by now?"

"Shouldn't you?"

"The things that you say..." Jareth paused and chose his words

carefully. "Do you want me to feel regret. I know... I knew that the boy was

yours at the first sight of him. You propelled him countless years into the

future with your dying magick. With your dying breath you saved his life in

the hopes that I would find him and raise him as an immortal father."

"This was before I had known that your heart was frozen."

"Why do you haunt me still? I am cursed with your annoying

presence ever constant around me."

"If you are not haunted by your conscience then you shall be

haunted by me."

"Leave me be, Adia! Can't you see I do not need or want you here?"

"Your heart aches to be set free. You do not want me here but

you do need me here. Your heart is like a dam waiting to burst and when it

does then all your evil will be undone and it will be your own heart that

does it. It wants to feel right now. Can't you feel the first inklings ofa

human soul already as you look at me right now with a hint of regret? All

you need is one good emotional push and that heart shall be free and so shall

my soul."

"You are wrong, Adia. My soul does not feel regret or love for

you right now. I am only weary."

"Do you love this boy, our son?"

"Love?"

"Yes, do you remember what the word means?"

"Of course I do. I do not love though. I never loved."

"You loved me once."

"I never loved."

"You lie not only to me but to yourself now, Jareth. You want to

love. That's the emptiness inside of you. Your heart wants to feel love

once again. Sometimes, Jareth it is better to love then to be loved."

"And you, Adia? Do you still love... me?"

She then disappeared.

It might have been the dim lighting but for a moment it looked as if

a tear was forming in Jareth's eye.

It was dawn when Jared left his only home he had ever known. He

carried over his shoulder a small bundle of his most prized and cherished

possessions.

He went to the edge of the valley and waited for the sun to set.

As it began to set he saw the north star and he began to walk. He felt as if

he was chasing the sun but no, rather it would be that the sun was chasing

him as of dawn.

To: .

Subject: [labyfic] The Lost Land (Part 4 of ?)

From:

Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 22:14:29 EDT

For miles he hiked. He walked along the dirt roads until he came to

a small clearing. Five small houses stood in this clearing. They were

dreary and dilapidated in appearance. Jared wondered who it was that could

live in such a filthy squalour.

Spiders made their webs on the front porches of these houses and

not a single candle burned from within. The houses seemed abandoned.

Jared was about to take a closer look at one of the houses when

something stirred within one.

A beautiful young woman stepped out of one of these cabins at the

sight of Jared. Jared had followed the great star to this foreboding place

and yet he still had many miles to go to reach is true destination of The

Goblin Castle.

The sun had set hours ago and this strange woman looked pale in

the moonlight.

Her beauty stunned Jared. She was enchanting. Her hair was long

and full. Her hair was an odd, silvery colour, like it was made from the

moonlight.

Her skin was white and her eyes were large and bright. One might

even say that they were glowing.

She stepped up to Jared and grinned but in the dim lighting

Jared did not see that her eye teeth were in fact two large fangs.

"Are you Jared, the mortal sent to destroy our master, Jareth?"

She hissed as she stepped closer to him.

Jared could now see her fangs and knew that she was a monster of

the night. She was clearly a child of darkness, a nosforotue, a vampyre.

"Yes, I have been sent to destroy Jareth or rather the darkness

that he created for I do not believe that I can kill him."

'This is true for he is a true immortal and the only thing that

can kill a true immortal is the blood of a golden hyne and to get this blood

you would have to kill your mentor's friend, Geado. She is the only golden

hyne left in all of The underground. You would not kill an innocent to kill

Jareth, would you, boy?"

"No I would not. I do not think that I would be able to kill him

even if I had the hyne's blood."

"And why is this?"

She looked deep in to Jared's eyes and in his eyes she saw only a

small spark that she knew once in herself to be emotion. Vampyres could not

have emotion for to have emotion would mean to have a human soul and that

would in turn destroy them with the longing of a human life. Any vampyre

that felt emotion eventually fell to madness and self-destruction or so they

all believed.

"Never mind." She hissed at the sight of emotion in his eyes.

"Why don't I just see to it that no mortal is left. Would you want eternity,

mortal Jared?"

Knowing what eternity meant to a blood drinker Jared leapt back.

"No!"

Jared knew that vampyres were semi-immortal. They could live

forever but only so long as they fed on the blood of the living and avoided

the light of day. Do to these flaws they were not considered true immortals

though they could live forever.

"Well, that's too bad then. I guess I am just going to have to kill

you then. Oh, well. You were a very handsome boy too." said the female

vampyre.

She quickly grabbed Jared by the shoulders and bent over. Her

fangs were out and she was hungry. She had not tasted human blood in nearly

a millennia.

Jared could feel her icy breath upon his neck. He tried to force

her away from him. He could not. She had the strength of at least three

mortal men, not that Jared knew any other mortal men

Her teeth pierced through his flesh. They stung as they went in

to his throat and Jared felt as if he were paralyzed as she removed her fangs

and pressed her lips around the wound to take the deadly drink. She had

torn open the skin. The blood was pouring out and she was drinking it.

To her it was sweet. To her it was pure ecstasy. She had not

felt the strength of mortal struggle, of a mortal's heart beat in centuries.

It was pure pleasure for her. Vague dreams of mortality flashed through her

mind.

She could remember when Jareth had been human and like most humans

he had feared and despised the vampyre and she had wanted to feed on him so

desperately. His blood had a unique smell and this mortal boy reminded her

of the scent of the mortal that Jareth had been.

Though this was pleasure for the vampyre it was torture for

Jared.

Jared felt weak. He knew that he was dying. His knees were

shaking. His throat was dry. He felt dizzy. All he could do was gasp. He

couldn't even scream out in his terror of dying without fulfilling his

mission.

Jared fell to his knees. He could no longer stand. He was in

pain. He moaned only once. She was fastened tight to his neck and Jared

thought for sure that he would die.

. Suddenly something hard hit him and the vampyre at once. He fell

back and the woman demon was off of his neck.

"No!" A male voice said. "Jareth wants him alive!"

The demon was on her knees. "And why is that? Why would he want

what is destined to destroy him alive? He is stupid. That must be why.

Jareth has turned stupid." She hissed. "Let me kill him. Jareth need not

know. Jareth won't even care. He is just a boy to him but to me he is a

feast of virgin purity and spiritual innocence."

"No, you fool. Can't you see it in the boy's face. He is Jareth's

son. Blood of his blood, bone of his bone. If you drink his blood then you

would be drinking Jareth's blood had Jareth been a mortal."

"When mortals were plentiful I had my fill of all kinds. How amI

supposed to survive without mortal blood?" she tore at her hair. "I want

him!"

"The other's did just fine didn't they?"

"Mermaids, centours and wild beasts do not count. It is mortal blood that I

crave!"

"Then you deal with Jareth's wrath."

The female vampyre hissed and then got up on to her feet as she had

been kneeling in the mud and now ran away.

Jared could hardly see in the moonlight but what he did see was

that a strange man had just saved his life.

Jared sat on the ground and a hand reached out for him.

Jared took his hand and thanked the stranger.

"I am Meloth and I am immortal. Unlike your friend who attacked

you I am a true immortal. I am simply and basically a man who can not die and

I can teach you how to defend yourself against Jareth."

"You are immortal?" Jared was curious as he placed his hand to

his neck to try and stop the bleeding. His shirt was sticky with blood.

"Yes. I am the oldest living man. I have lived twenty six

thousand years. And there is another way of killing an immortals other then

with the blood of a hyne but then again you do not want to kill your father."

"What is this way of killing an immortal?"

"It is very easy, my young friend. You simply cut off his head."

They walked into the woods where Meloth decided to make camp for the

night.

The stranger went to work building a fire. In the flames Jared

could see his new friend's face more clearly.

Meloth was a tall man. He had black hair and brown eyes. His

skin was pale but not as pale as that of the vampyres. He had nice smile and

he looked no older then twenty six years old. He was dressed as a warrior and

in a sheath he carried a sword at his side.

"Why do you want to help me?" Jared asked flatly.

"What?"

"Well, aren't you one of Jareth's minion?"

"I am twenty millennia old and I have no real reason to serve

anyone but myself. I want to help you because I know the truth. I know

something very important."

Meloth looked sad and distant for a moment. He stared up at the sky

and then back down at Jared who sat opposite him in front of the fire.

"What is the truth?" Jared asked groggily as he was still weak from

the vampyre's attack and his neck hurt from the pressure of the bite.

"The truth is this. I know that you are not the last mortal. In

these woods hides one last female mortal. I know this for a fact. I know

her and together you and she can repopulate this world with mortals. I also

know that Jareth is haunted. He is haunted by the ghost of your dead mother

and his dead wife. I want to help you defeat Jareth so that her soul can be

free and so that this mortal woman can be safe."

"Why do you care for one mortal so dearly?"

"I care because... because I raised her. She is my daughter. I

am not really her father but I raised her. Her mother was the last of her

kind. Her mother was my wife. I met her when she was pregnant. She was

still mourning the death of her husband and wanted to marry me. She died in

child birth leaving me to raise our daughter alone. I want to destroy Jareth

so that he can not destroy my precious one. I love her too dearly to let

anything happen to her.

"May I meet this daughter of yours?"

"But of course." Meloth stood up and held out his hand to help

Jared to his feet. "Come with me.'

Meloth took Jared deep in to the woods. It was in a small swamp

that a large house stood. The house was made out of stone and it was a

strange to see something so big and well built on soft swamp land.

"Trina, Trina." Meloth called as he opened the iron gate that

surrounded his manour.

"Coming, Father." A young woman's voice called from inside the

house.

Out stepped a beautiful young woman. Her hair was red and tied

back in a long braid. She looked like she was seventeen or eighteen. She

wore a long gown of blue silk and she was freshly bathed.

Meloth gestured towards his daughter. "Jared, this is my

daughter, Trina."

Trina made a small curtsy. "Pleasure to meet you, Jared."

She stepped up to Jared and saw the wound in his neck caused by

the female vampyre.

"You are hurt." She said. "Come, let me clean that up for you."

Jared would have objected but the wound did hurt and he wanted

to get inside for the night air was intolerably cold and the wind stung his

wound.

Jared and Meloth patiently followed Trina in to the house. He saw in the

house that it was well furnished.

In the corner of the room was a chair carved out of wood and

there was a couch made out of velvet. Jared sat down on the couch and

looked around.

There were candles burning nearly everywhere. Meloth fetched the

bandages and an oil lamp for his daughter while she went out to the well to

fetch some water.

Jared was tired and nearly delirious when Trina entered the house

again. She was a lovely creature though. Her skin was like milk and her

eyes were like emeralds.

She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen but then

again she was the only creature as close to he that existed.

She placed her bucket of water down next to her as she kneeled

before Jared to tend to the wound on his neck. It was big wound and Trina

was surprised that Jared was not screaming in pain.

She dunked her rag in the water and placed the wet rag gently to

his neck. The blood had stained his shirt. Trina did not know how to ask

this stranger to remove his shirt. She felt something for him though she was

not sure what it was that she felt. Maybe it was love, but then again maybe

it was not. Trina did not crave the company of men though she liked this one

for some reason. She had never cared for the company of others much no

matter what the species. She was often alone and enjoyed her independence

and solitude. She could fence better then any creature she knew of and she

could fight and defend herself better then any creature she knew of. Once

her father and her had fought off a full-scale Goblin Attack together when

Jareth had decided that he wanted the swamp manour for himself.

Trina bushed slightly. "Would you please take off your shirt so

that I might be able to wash it?" Trina asked shyly with her head turned

away from Jared.

Jared took off his shirt and sat half-naked in front of Trina.

Trina was surprised at his bone structure. He was very muscular and unlike

Meloth who was very thin. This mortal was thin and muscular. He looked very

strong.

Trina had cleaned and dressed his wound well. The blood had

stopped flowing and his shirt was cleaned before he woke up in the morning.

Trina could not sleep at all that night. She did not know how to

tell Jared that she loved him. How strange it was that his father was the

king of all that was evil and his father looked no more then a few years

older then he.

She watched him sleep and realized that she was in love with him though she

did not crave him the way Meloth had told her mortal woman crave mortal men

and men the woman. He was kind and handsome and interesting. She was in

love.

Meloth was in bed in the next room. He knew that this would

happen. Twenty thousand years of experience had taught him a thing or two

about romance and he could see that his daughter was falling in love but was

Jared in love with her?

To: .

Subject: [labyfic] The Lost Land (Part 5 of ?)

From:

Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 22:15:34 EDT

Jareth was sitting in his castle. In his hand appeared a crystal

ball. This he could use to see anyone or anything that he wanted.

He could tell that his son was on his way to the castle and now

he knew for the first time that a mortal woman lived and this worried him for

it could very well be that she could carry his son's son who indeed could

destroy him. But upon closer examination of the woman's spirit Jared

realized that she was infertile. She could not carry children and only the

girl herself knew this. She was missing a certain part of her internal

anatomy that the child would develop in. She was missing her uterus and that

was the real reason why she did not wish to bed with a man. Her body simply

did not desire it though her heart desired the understanding and affection of

Jared her lust would never be for him.

"Oh, well. Very nice try though." Jareth laughed.

"You've been watching me all night?" Jared asked upon opening his

eyes to see Trina.

"I watched you to make sure the bleeding did not start in again.

I did not want to leave you. You might have needed me. The vampyre really

hurt you."

Now Jared was falling in love with her though he did not know how

to express it.

Back at The Goblin Castle Jareth passed the floor in his chamber.

He knew that the boy would start his inevitable journey and soon.

Jareth called out for one of his minion. "Tye!"

In the room hopped a creature that stood about four feet tall. It

had red eyes and spiked blue hair. It had the legs of a kangaroo and the

claws of a lion. On it's back were a pair of black feathered wings. The

creature was drooling like a mad dog.

Jareth turned to the creature. "Tye, I want you to take care of a

little problem for me."

"Yes, your majesty. As you wish, your highness."

"Find me the one who calls herself Sylvia. She is a warrior of

mine. Have her capture this mortal woman, Trina who hides in the woods with

the immortal Meloth. Once Trina is captured tell Sylvia to take her to me.

I shall be in my throne room dealing with a ghost from my past."

"Yes, master." And with that Tye darted from the room and

headed for the village of the vampyres. It was a small settlement of five

houses in the woods. Here was the female creature that had attacked Jared

and here was the creature known as Sylvia.

Sylvia was a vampyre warrior.

She looked no older then seventeen and had brown hair and brown

eyes. She was short and thin though very strong. Her greatest weapon was

her deceptive appearance of innocence and youth. Though she looked seventeen

one would have to realize that she is one thousand, three hundred years old.

She was Jareth's best warrior though she was also quite mad. The

creature had gone insane decades ago when the one called Meloth had killed

her mate or so she had thought and been told. Jareth had learned that she

had fallen in love and this was bad for a strong vampyre could not feel love

and he wanted her to always be his best warrior and he had been responsible

for her loss of sanity and convinced her that Meloth had killed her beloved.

She was waiting for an opportunity to get back at Meloth. Where

love had once been in her heart there was now hatred for the one she thought

had killed her lover. Most vampyres felt nothing but Sylvia and her lover

had felt everything and she felt things too potently so Jareth in disgust had

personally dealt with her lover, Angelous.

Angelous had been a very beautiful yet dangerous creature with

the spirit of a mortal. He had shaggy black hair and blue eyes that would

glow like sapphire in the night. He had pale, smooth skin and had looked

only twenty-six, when in fact he was Three thousand years old.

Though Angelous had been a vampyre and most vampyres were

loathsome creatures Jareth had been jealous of this creature's beauty and

that was another reason why he had seen to it that the creature was never

seen or heard from again. Jareth was extremely arrogant and proud and when

he found that this creature was eternally beautiful and as strong as himself

he had seen to it that the creature vanish forever.

He would not let anything roam his domain that was more enticing

then himself and unwilling to summit to his rule and Angelous had refused

countless times to serve Jareth, infuriating him.

Back in Meloth's house Trina held a sword in one hand and stood

opposite Jared who held a sword in his hand. They looked at each other with

the intense gaze of battle. Both were covered with sweat.

Meloth stepped in and stood between them. "Very good, Jared but

you have to thrust with your arms, not your whole body or else you may lose

balance."

Meloth grabbed the sword away from Trina who stepped back to fetch herself a

drink of water from the pitcher on the far table.

"The sword," Meloth said, "must become an extenuation of yourself. It must

move with as much ease as you would move your arm."

"Father," Trina interrupted "I think that Jared is ready."

"No," Meloth said. "He'll be ready when he can defeat an

immortal or a goblin just as easily. This boy knows nothing of battle or of

killing."

Jared was upset. "That is a lesson I would care not to learn."

Meloth was shocked. "I know that you do not like the idea of

having to take a life but you must know how to defend yourself, especially

when going up against your father's minion."

Meloth stood on guard with the sword. "Now, shall we try this

again?"

Tye knocked on Sylvia's door rapidly.

The wooden door swung open and there she stood in the moonlight.

She was in a black shroud. Her thick brown hair waved around her

head. She wore a hooded cloak that covered her face partially. She was

extremely vicious though she was also very polite to the creature at her door

now.

Her eyes were glowing a bright yellow as they often did when she

needed to see better in the darkness. She stared intensely at the creature

in her doorway.

"Jareth needs you." He said.

Sylvia smiled viciously at the little monster in her doorway.

Meloth sat down at the supper table with Jared. A fine banquette

was set before them. Trina sat down next to her adopted father.

There were bowls full of apples and oranges. Plates of fried fish

coated in bread crumbs were set before them by a staff of helpful gnomes. A

pitcher of wine sat at the far end of the table and a pitcher of water was at

the other.

A bowl of nuts and berries sat next to a bowl of apples. Creamed

cakes and boiled potatoes were put on dishes set before Jared.

Meloth, who sat at the head of the table turned to Trina, "Dear,

would you please go outside and retrieve some more raspberries from the patch

over at the border of my property?"

"Of course, father."

Trina was in too good a spirit to question that fresh raspberries

were right in the pantry. She was in love with Jared.

Once Trina was out of the room Meloth turned to Jared. "When will

you be leaving to face your father?"

"I leave tonight. There is still a little bit of day light left.

I will go when the bright star rises for it shall lead me to the path that I

must take.

Trina was humming to herself as she filled a basket of fresh

raspberries. A bit of the juice had splattered on to her hands. Just as she

was finishing up she heard something in the bushes.

With a slight gasp Trina called out. "Who's there?" Trina was

always worried about vampyre attacks and that was why she hardly ever went

out after dark but then again no vampyre was crazy enough to dare enter the

property of Meloth, the immortal warrior.

They knew that if they so much as went near his domain he would

kill them and he did know how to destroy them.

Sylvia emerged from the bushes with her head covered so that Trina

could not see her pale skin or her glowing eyes.

"'Tis but I. I am just a young girl like yourself who has lost

her way in the night."

Trina stared at the stranger dressed in dark clothes. "This is my

father's property and I am the only mortal girl in the world. My father told

me this and he is not a liar. Who or rather what are you?'

Sylvia stepped towards her. "A servant of Jareth."

Meloth was drinking up the wine and getting somewhat piss drunk

in the process. He smiled at Jared and out right told him his secret plans.

"You and Trina will fall in love and you will have a baby with her. Using

your father's powers that you will inherit with his destruction you can rule

this world and my daughter will finally be happy. And you can bring mortals

back to this realm."

"I told you. I am not going to kill my own father." Jared said.

"Though I must confess that I have fallen in love with Trina and will always

love her no matter what. She is clever, intelligent, kind and caring, strong

willed and brave. Who could want more?" Jared said.

Just then they both heard a scream coming from the garden. It was

Trina. The blood curtailing scream caused all the colour to rush from

Meloth's face. He had never once heard his daughter scream in terror before,

not since she was a new born. She had never had a reason to cry out in such

a way before.

Meloth dropped his goblet and Jared at his side ran out to the garden to see

what was the matter.

In the night sky they saw the dark shadow of Sylvia moving

through the air with a young and terrified Trina in her arms. Though the one

holding the other was physically smaller, Trina could not break free from her

grasp.

Trina screamed while Sylvia laughed and moved in the direction of

the newly rising star.

Jared stared up in fright that the demon woman would drop the woman

he loved while Meloth grabbed him by the shoulders. "She's headed for the

castle. You go get my swords. I'll go to the stable and fetch us two

horses. We can make it there by day break if we move fast enough. Go!"

And with that Jared ran in to the monour the fetch the swords while Meloth

went to the stable to get the two white horse that he and Trina usually would

ride on.

Sylvia could move as fast as lightning when she flew. In seconds

they were at the castle and She dragged poor Trina in to the throne room.

Jareth sat in his throne laughing when Sylvia brought the

terrified girl before him.

"Excellent work, Sylvia. You truly are my best warrior."

Sylvia was extremely angry and the capture of Meloth's mortal

daughter did not satisfy her emptiness or rage.

"I shall leave you now, my lord. I have done your bidding but now

I must rest. I would wish to sleep in one of your dark and light-less towers

for the day. The dawn is coming and the daylight would destroy me. It would

be too long a journey to make it to my home without being caught in the early

light."

"As you wish. You have done well. You may sleep in the north

tower."

And with that Sylvia was gone and Trina stood alone in the throne room face

to face with Jareth, The Goblin King.

"Ah, Trina. You certainly are a lovely little thing. Too bad

you can't bear children. If you were to serve me I could see to it that your

body could carry a child. I can heal your imperfect body with my magick if

you would serve me." Jareth was lying. He would never heal someone who

could carry the child that could kill him.

Trina wanted to have a baby but she knew that she could not summit

to darkness no matter what the cost. "I will never serve you!"

Trina spit at Jareth and it landed right in his face.

Jareth was annoyed as he wiped the warm saliva out of his eyes.

"For that, my dear, you shall pay."

Jareth called out for Tye, the goblin whom he could sense was near

by listening to every word he said. "Tye!"

Tye appeared in almost an instant. "Yes, your majesty."

"Take this little trollop to cell nine in my dungeon."

Now, though Tye loved to please his master but he had a goblin

daughter of his own and did not wish to see a child suffer. "Cell nine, are

you sure?" he simply wanted to make sure that his master was not making a

mistake.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Yes, your majesty." He was about to grab the girl when Jareth

stopped him.

"Wait! Is that the cell where I keep him?" It had been so long

that Jareth could hardly remember. He had not checked on his little pet in

nearly twenty five decades. He had grown bored with it and when Jareth grows

bored with something he simply forgets about it and leaves it alone.

"Yes, your majesty."

"Good. I just wanted to make sure."

"Are you sure you want to do this, master?"

"Do as I say."

"But he'll kill her... "

"I said to do as I say!" Jareth screamed. Then he calmed down

and laughed just slightly as he tried to remain solemn though he could not

repress an evil grin. "That's the whole idea."

"As you wish your majesty."

Tye grabbed Trina by her wrists. Trina kicked at the creature

but as she did his claws cut in to her wrists causing a slight wound that

bled only a little.

Trina knew that her father would surely rescue her and so she

went with the creature down the long and dark hallway to the dungeons far

below.

To: .

Subject: [labyfic] The Lost Land (Part 6 of ?)

From:

Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 22:17:56 EDT

Meanwhile Jared and Meloth raced towards Watchers Woods and

oddly enough as they made their way they could almost sense that indeed they

were being watched. They did not realize that countless goblins had in the

trees and watched as they passed by.

The trolls who slept under the giant toadstools and mushrooms did

not care at all as the two men raced by to get to the castle of the goblin

king.

Trina was shoved in to a small windowless room far below the

castle. She was afraid as she held her bleeding wrist that the goblin had

scratched.

It was dark and dreary in the dungeon and she could hardly see a

thing. She panicked when she heard the door being locked and bolted behind

her. She was a bit claustrophobic and hated small, dark spaced... especially

if she were trapped.

A small stub of a candle sat in the corner of the room, Trina could

only see this do to the slight bit of light from under the door crack. An

empty wooden stool sat next to it and something else moved only slightly in

the corner that appeared to be curled up in a shivering ball.

Trina leaned against the door and gasped for breath as she prayed

that her father would find her in this dismal place.

Trina was about to fall to her knees sobbing when she heard a noise

from the other end of the cell.

It was the sound of chains rattling. The thing in the corner was

moving. It was very weak and it seemed that it would give up at any second

and collapse on to the floor again.

She did not see the figure that sat on his knees on the floor with his

hands in iron cuffs attached to long chains that reached to the far back wall

of the dungeon.

"Who... who's there." She whispered in the dark afraid that it

might have been a demon or a goblin sent to kill her by Jareth.

A young sounding yet very weak male voice called out to Trina.

"Don't be afraid. I mean you no harm. I won't hurt you."

"Who... who are you?" Trina sat down on the stool to try and get a

closer look at this being that sat helpless in the corner.

As if by magick the candle stub that sat in the corner was

suddenly lit, the creature in the corner had done it with a bit of weak and

trivial magick that most creatures in The Underground possessed.

Trina could not see who was talking to her but now in the weak and

flickering candle light she could. She gasped slightly at the sight of him

but in an instant she felt pity for him. She knew that he would not hurt her

though she knew instinctively what he was.

His blue eyes shown with a strange light and his skin was as white as freshly

fallen snow. His hair was black and it was tangled around his head. His

face was smooth and he had no blemishes upon his face.

He was dressed in rags and he was obviously starved. He looked

at her cut wrist hungrily though he did nothing to appease his hunger and he

did not even try to lunge at her.

Instead he fell backward and leaned against the wall. He was too

weak to stand.

"Who are you?" Trina asked.

"I am Angelous. I betrayed Jareth by winning the heart of his

best warrior so he put me here to suffer for all eternity."

"I'm sorry but I didn't know that vampyres could love."

"We were all human once and some of us never lose certain traits.

I loved Sylvia. I still love her though I have not seen her in fifty years."

"I am Trina. I am the daughter of Meloth and I have been brought

here as bait for the one called Jared."

"Jared? Who is Jared?"

"Jared is the son of Jareth and he has been sent here somehow to

defeat his own father."

"But I thought that the son of Jareth would be Magus' down fall."

"This is true."

Angelous tried to stand but fell back, helpless and miserable his

eyes began to fill with blood red tears. Angelous weakened, and frustrated

by his own helplessness finally cried out. "I can't stand this anymore.

Would you do me the mercy of dispatching me to where ever it is that we go

when it finally ends."

Angelous pointed to a sharpened piece of wood in the corner.

"There. Press it in to my chest and make sure that it pierces the heart.

That would do it. Jareth used to come down here nightly and torment me with

that. Now I see it as my salvation. Please help me. I can't stand this a

moment longer. Let the king, Jareth fall. Let Magus fall. I do not care.

Let the whole bloody world come crashing down around us both! I don't care!"

Trina saw the wooden stake in the corner of the room and imagined

Jareth threatening the helpless creature with it. She almost imagined what

such a creature could do if for once put to the services of good.

She walked over to the stake as Angelous fell over on to the floor

and shut his eyes as he waited for the death blow.

Trina picked up the object and looked for a moment then she

turned to Angelous. "I will help you but not this way but you must also help

me."

She kneeled down beside Angelous and placed her bleeding wrist

next to his mouth. At first Angelous did not know what she was doing but

then he realized that she was offering it to him.

"Take only a little." She said.

When Angelous realized that she was giving him her strength he

greedily reached up and pulled her bloodied wrist closer too him. Gently yet

quickly he began to drink and drink making sure that he was not hurting her

or taking too much. He did not wish to kill this innocent young girl.

n watchers woods Jared and Meloth had come to a bridge. Guarding the

bridge was a man with shaggy white hair and a wrinkled face

"Halt!" said the strange looking man. "I am the gate keeper and

no one may pass here without paying the toll."

"And what is the toll?" Meloth asked.

"The toll is not really a payment but an answer. You must answer

my riddle. If you do not answer the riddle correctly then the trolls and

werewolves of this place will be signaled to destroy you."

"What is the riddle?" Jared asked.

The little man stared up at the night sky and then he spoke. "I

am nothing and I am everything. I am ever constant and yet I am always

changing. I am infinitely simple yet I am untimely complex. You are in me

as I am in you. I am within you and I was without you. I am eternal and yet

I am not alive though I am the essence of all life. I am always growing and

yet I am never full. I came before you and I shall be here after you. I am

the question and the answer. I carry with me all the truth and yet you still

can not grasp me. Who am I?"

Meloth the elder of the two knew the answer in almost an instant.

"Oh, that's easy. You're the universe."

"Very good." Said the old man and with that he vanished in to a

puff of white smoke and was gone. The two men were free to move across the

bridge without trouble.

That whole day they traveled and only once did they stop so that

Jared could relieve himself and they could eat some roasted apples that

Meloth plucked from a tree. As they ate the apples Jared looked at Meloth in

confusion. "But where did you get these apples from? I thought nothing good

came from this place."

"An old witch spit out her rotted teeth in the woods here and a

apple tree grew from them and these are the best apples in the land. That

only proves that something good can come from something evil just as

something evil cam come from something good. That's one of the many lessons

you need to know, boy."

"Oh. I see."

They made camp for a little while and slept through the

afternoon and as the sun set they started riding again to follow the bright

star to Jareth's castle.

In Jareth throne room there was an awful riot. Jareth was throwing

dishes at the translucent specter of Adia.

"Leave me be. For the love of sanity love me be!"

"Love? I thought that you didn't love."

"It is just an expression, you foolish specter. Leave me alone!"

"No." Adia stepped close to Jareth. "They're coming for you,

you know. Meloth has trained Jared how to slay you and that young girl is

making friend with your pet in the dungeon and once Sylvia finds out what you

have done to him she'll kill you. Your reign as king is over, Jareth Step

down now while you still can."

"Never!"

"She'll kill you, you know. Sylvia has a temper and though she is

quite insane she is also quite dangerous. Her destructive tendencies are

ones that I would never trust. Once she learns of what you've done to

Angelous she'll destroy you."

"But that's just it. For fifty years it has been my secret and

for fifty years she has never known the truth. She'll never know. Sylvia

will never know of what I've done... "

"And what have you done?"

Just then Jareth realized that Adia had vanished and right behind

him stood his best warrior, Sylvia who had only heard his rant and had not

seen Adia.

Her hair was tied back in a black ribbon and she wore a long flowing

dress that shimmered in the moonlight with an odd contrast of a pair of

warrior boots. You could just see the handle of a dagger sticking out of her

left boot.. Her dress was that of a princess. It was made from pure velvet.

Velvet was her favourite material.

Adia was gone and Sylvia had not seen her but only had heard

Jareth yelling.

Afraid of his own warrior turning against him Jareth made a fake

smile.

"At least you still know how to dress yourself and where did you

get that outfit?"

"I am not as mad as they say I am, Jareth. I'm not mad... just a

little angry, that's all. I stole this outfit from a now dead pixie. And

what have you done, Jareth? What wasn't I supposed to know about? What have

you done?"

In the dungeon Angelous was feeling stronger. He had slept through the day

soundlessly. Now he sat with Trina who spoke to him gently and kindly as if

he were an old friend.

"Don't worry about Jareth. His time is growing short. He might

not die but his reign will end once and for all."

"I want to help you. For what Jareth has done to me, I want to

help you, Trina."

Trina stared at him for a moment and then she heard the sound of

the door's bolt's being removed. Someone was unlocking the door.

Angelous fell back with a slight cringe as if he were ready to be

hit by Jareth. He had been beaten so often that he had forgotten what a

tender embrace felt like. He could not remember love though Sylvia had

always loved him.

To: .

Subject: [labyfic] The Lost Land (Part 7 of ?)

From:

Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 22:18:48 EDT

The door opened and with a gasp Sylvia ran to Angelous and embraced

him. "My God, you are here! All this time... " she was weeping bloodred tears

"... .After all this time you are alive. My love, I am sorry. I am so sorry."

Trina slipped from the room while Sylvia undid Angelous' shackles

and helped him to his feet.

Angelous called out to her. "Wait! I really meant it when I saidI

wanted to help you."

"And I will too." Sylvia said as she kissed Angelous passionately

on the mouth.

Sylvia now understood. She felt love again and for once in her

whole life she wanted to do good. She felt right. She was not empty any

longer. Suddenly she wanted to do what was right. She wanted to play the

hero.

Sylvia , with the sight of her lost love suddenly regretted

everything she had done for the past fifty years that she had been living in

the shadow of vengeance. She wanted to make up for it.

Sylvia spoke to Trina. "The coward, Jareth told me what he had

done. I ran from the throne room to find you the moment I knew the truth.

Surely he has flown by know. The little bastard must know that I am going to

kill him personally.

"There is the castle." Meloth said as they reached the great

fortress of the goblin king.

"Trina must be inside." Meloth said "Let's go."

Sylvia and Angelous walked with Trina down the long corridor to the

throne room.

"Wait a minute." Sylvia hissed. "I hear something."

Meloth and Jared came running at the three. All Meloth could see

was that his daughter was standing behind two monsters.

Meloth pulled his sword from his holster and ran at the creature,

Sylvia whom he recognized to be the one who kidnapped his daughter.

"No!" cried Angelous who ran in front of Sylvia with Trina.

Meloth stopped dead in his tracks when he realized that his

daughter wanted to defend both these creatures. Meloth held his sword out

ready to strike and slice off Sylvia's head but he could not with the two,

Angelous and Trina in front of her.

"Trina, what the Hell are you doing? Get our of the way."

"No. Father, they're on our side. They want to help us."

"It's true." Angelous said as Meloth stared at him.

'All right." Meloth sighed. "I don't normally trust vampyres

but I trust my daughter."

Jared pointed towards a staircase. "Jareth must be up there. I'll

go a head. I'll call if I need you." Jared ran up the staircase and left

the four awkward people together.

"So how are we going to defeat Jareth? Obviously his son is not

going to do it."

"He'll get killed!" Angelous said.

"We have to stop him." Trina was worried for Jared.

Sylvia pulled a dagger out of her boot that she had been wearing.

"With this."

'What is it?" Trina asked as she stared at the obvious blood stain

on its blade.

"This," Sylvia said "this, my na=C3=AFve young friend is hyne's blood

stained on to a dagger. It was given to me by Jareth to use against Meloth

if he got in the way of the kidnapping attempt. One stab through the heart

with this thing can kill any creature."

"What are we waiting for?" Meloth cried as he raised his sword.

Let us end this nightmare once and for all!"

The four ran up the stairs towards the chamber where Jared already

was with his father.

Jareth turned towards Jared. "Are you going to kill me, Jared?"

"No, father I am not going to kill you."

Jareth smiled maliciously. "You are fool then." The sound of

rushing feet up the narrow staircase interrupted him. "Your friends are

coming."

Meloth ran in to the room swinging his sword.

"Guards!" Jareth screamed.

With that a whole army of goblins came rushing out of a secret

passage in the wall. These demons were armed with swords and daggers. Some

were growling while others simply ran at Meloth and his three companions.

Sylvia leapt up and with one flying kick she knocked over three

goblins that Angelous quickly ran at and broke the necks of, one by one.

The ones with swords were quickly run through by Meloth's blade.

A large and hairy one leapt on to Angelous' shoulders. He quickly

flung this one in to the wall and watched as the blood splattered against the

bricks.

Trina backed up in to a corner, looking for something to throw ata

goblin that was running at her with a dagger in one hand and a piece of

broken glass in the other.

Sylvia saw this and lunged at this creature. She bit in to its

throat and held it tight as it struggled to break free from her deadly

embrace.

Sylvia's eyes were glowing with a hellish light. They were like embers in

the sockets of her bleached face.

She rocked back and forth as she swooned from the taste of it.

When the goblin didn't struggle any more she threw it down as wiped

the excess blood from her mouth.

Trina stared at her in disgust and to this Sylvia only said. "You

are such a helpless baby. "

Trina did not respond to this as she bent down and armed herself

with the dead goblin's dagger.

Jared stood in the back end of the room and watched as his friends

fought off the attackers.

He turned to his father who was laughing, delighted by the chaos and

carnage around him. "You must call them off." Jared was panicking.

"Ha, never!"

Soon all the goblins were dead or dying. The two vampyres, immortal

and the one girl had defeated a whole goblin army.

This worried Jareth because he suddenly realized that he was trapped

in his own castle. He could easily turn himself in to a bird but they would

still catch him as he flew away, if not the mortals then the vampyres and the

true immortal would.

Sylvia saw the open opportunity to kill her former master. She

pulled out the dagger stained in hyne's blood and ran towards Jareth who

stood as helpless as a mortal.

"I'll put this through your frozen heart and it will all end once

and for all."

Then suddenly Sylvia said something that Jared remembered

hearing his master say. "Evil is unnecessary. With this dagger I take the

only thing that I see as absolute evil and I destroy it. I really don't know

if it will make up for my poorly lived life but it sure as Hell will make me

feel a Hell of a lot better."

Sylvia ran too fast.

Jared leapt in front of her to stop the blade from reaching the

target. "No!"

It was too late. Sylvia had already struck Jared in the heart as he

stood in front of Jareth.

Jared fell over bleeding.

Sylvia fell back and dropped the dagger. She turned to Angelous and

with tears in her eyes she began to weep. "What have I done?"

Angelous who could forgive anything embraced her tight.

When Jareth saw what had happened, what his son had done for him

something happened.

A sharp and sudden jolt hit Jareth in the chest A great pressure

pushed within his heart. A great vibration shook Jareth. Though still

immortal, Jareth aged a single second with a great rushing of emotion within

him.

Jareth saw his dying son and ran towards him with tears in his

eyes.

Jareth fell over crying as he cradled his son's head in his arms.

He stared up at Sylvia who was baffled for she had never seen Jareth cry.

"Why can't you do anything right, you damn monster? That blade

was meant for me! Why couldn't you get it right?" He was wailing in

anguish. "Oh, God! That was meant to be my death." He was screaming and

whaling with the boy in his arms that he should have raised, that he would

have cherished and nurtured and then Jareth remembered the pain of love and

though he hated his misery he would not trade it for anything in the world.

Sylvia did not know what to say. Angelous stood by her just in

cast that in a rage Jareth would kill him. Meloth already knew and

understood what was going on.

And everyone there thought that Jared had died by the hands ofa

monster to retrieve the warmth of Jareth's heart.

Just then at the far end of the room a bright light appeared. This

was Adia.

The vampyres had to cover their eyes from the intense light but the

mortal woman and her immortal father could look at it just as easily as

Jareth who stared on with red and sore eyes, already swollen with tears.

"The greatest gift is the power to love and be loved. That should

not be denied to anyone."

She walked over to Jareth and of the first time in a very long while

others saw her as clearly as Jareth could.

She placed her hand over the boy's wound and in an instant it was

healed.

Jared sat up with a start. He was barely aware that his father had

been holding him.

Adia turned to Jareth one final time.

"I do still love you, Jareth. I never stopped loving you. Good

bye, forever, my beloved."

She faded way right then and there.

Jareth leapt up and ran towards where she had been standing. "No.

I won't lose you again." But she was gone.

Now, awkward and out of place in the midst of his own follies he

fell over crying as all that he had done for hundreds and hundreds of years

came rushing back to him.

And they just let him cry. He deserved the right to cry. Jareth

just sat there crying. He fell to his knees and held his sides as he cried.

His mop of thick blond hair fell down around his face and he cried. His

blond tangled hair fell in to his face as he shook his head back and forth

but no one tried to stop him.

They all just let him cry and even the usually cold and

self-indulgent, Sylvia let him cry as she silently stood with Angelous at her

side.

And it was over.

But that was not the end.

The goblins scattered like mice when they saw what had happened.

The king of the darkness had fallen but who was this man that stood in his

place? Was that Jareth the way he was meant to be?

He was feverish and weak with depression and disgust at the thought

of all he had done. He had been deserted by all of his minion, all but his

son, his son's new fianc=C3=A9e, Meloth and the two odd vampyres.

For weeks he lay silently in his bed. He shivered and shuttered

when ever any would enter the room or try and talk with him. He simply could

not except all that had happened. It was as if he were in Hell already.

Jared did not know what to do but the wise and ancient Meloth had

only one thing to say to him. "Give him time."

Jareth would have died up there, alone in his bed had not it

been for the fact that he was still immortal.

It seemed odd that the four should trust each other. Angelous and

Sylvia watched the half mad and delirious, Jareth through the night while

Trina and her father watched over him in the day. All through the night

Jared sat by his father's side and held his hand that was as limp and as

pliant as the hand of a man who had died only moments ago.

To: .

Subject: [labyfic] The Lost Land (Part 8 of ?)

From:

Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 22:23:27 EDT

Magus was sitting alone by the fire. It had been several weeks

since his adopted son, Jared had gone off to defeat The Goblin King and he

assumed that his adopted son had failed.

Magus did not know what to do. The prophecies of the ancients had

never lead him the wrong way before.

Oh, and Magus wanted to see Jareth dead, not because of the fact

that he was evil and had controlled half of The Underground for far too long

but because he was jealous and secretly hated his brother, though he would

never admit this to anyone.

Jareth had found the fruit of The Gods, ambrosia. He and his wife

were to be immortal. Why had he not, even as a good man invited his brother

in to the fold of immortality? They had been twins and now weak and dying

Magus sat warming himself by a fire, taking care of na=C3=AFve and innocentpixies

as he thought, while Jareth laughed in his chamber with an army of goblins at

his command. It was pure and simple hatred that Magus felt for his brother

and nothing more.

He hated him and now he thought he had killed the boy, Jared and he

was enraged. He was angry and upset. He decided right then and there that

he would set out and destroy the Goblin King, once and for all time.

But that would mean certain sacrifices.

Magus used a great spell to conjure the lighting. Once it

struck a tree that was a signal to the old elf, Glenda to come to see him.

"Yes, Master, Magus." Glenda made a slight bow at the sight of her

high master.

"I want you to fetch me your friend, Geado. I need to have a word

with her."

"Yes, your majesty. As you wish, Me am on me way, sire."

Glenda ran from the room, nearly tripping over her ragged dress.

She did not see that in his sleeve Magus held a sharp dagger that he intended

to use only twice.

Back at the former goblin castle the five remaining who would always

be loyal to the good Jareth sat in a parlor contemplating what they should do

about the melancholy and delusional king.

"He's been screaming in his sleep." Angelous said under his

breath, afraid that the restless Jareth would here him.

"Though it means almost nothing to him, he has not eaten in days."

Trina sighed. "I brought him a bowl of soup this morning and still no

reaction.

"He doesn't respond to anyone's voice not even when you try and

comfort him. I simply don't know what to do." Sylvia clasped Angelous' cold

hand in her's.

"He shudders if any one tried to touch him or reach out to him. I

think the shock of it all has driven him mad." Meloth sighed.

Jared paced the floor. "What are we going to do? Surely he can't

stay that way, can he?" Jared turned to his four companions who said not a

word.

"All right." Angelous sighed. "I'll talk to him."

"YOU?!?" Meloth was startled. "Why you? Do you really think that

he'll react to anything you have to say?"

"Oh, well your plans have worked so well, haven't they?" He said

sarcastically.

"What makes you think that he'll talk to YOU?"

Angelous did not react but simply began a walk up the stairs

towards Jareth's unlocked bed chamber.

Meloth was about to follow him when Jared, prince Jared stopped

him. "Let him go, Meloth. What harm can it do? Jareth... I mean Father can

not slip in to a deeper stupor then he's in now."

Geado entered the little hut that belonged to Magus. "You wanted to

see me, oh wise and good lord, Magus?"

Magus turned to the very innocent and ignorant Geado. "Ah, yes,

Geado. I did call for you." As he ambled towards her she did not see the

dagger that he held in his robe sleeve or the look of menace in his face.

All she saw was the being she had thought to be the ultimate example of

goodness.

"Geado, you are going to help me win a great battle. How would

you like to help me destroy the ultimate evil forever?"

Geado was very confused and fairly stupid as far as golden hynes

go. "Oh, but sir, I am not a warrior and the prophecy... what about the

prophecy?"

"To Hell with the prophecy! You are going to be a martyr for all

things good in this land."

Magus raised the dagger high ready to sacrifice the golden hyne for

her blood that could kill an immortal.

When Geado finally realized what was going on and what the word

'martyr' meant she screamed. She screamed a loud and high pitched wail but

with a flash of lightning she was dead. Her blood stained the earth where

she fell.

Maybe it was the sudden flash of lighting or the crack of thunder

that proceeded it but in an instant Jareth was sitting up in bed gasping for

breath and dripping in sweat from the nightmare he had just escaped.

He had worn the same clothes for several days. He wore a blue,

frilled shirt, tight black trousers and a pair of hunting boots he had

neglected to take off when they had helped him in to bed. He had neglecteda

lot of things. If he had not been smooth faced when he had eaten the

ambrosia he would have grown a beard by now. But since he would always look

the same it appeared as if he had just shaved when in fact he had not even

bothered to move for the last week and a half.

He did not notice the white figure of the vampyre, Angelous standing in the

far corner of his darkened room. He heard the din of the pouring rain and

saw it from his window. He sat up with a jolt. He had just had a nightmare

about his brother going mad and killing an innocent hyne just to kill him.

Jareth was sweating and gasping for breath.

He suddenly recalled where he was and what had happened. If he

could not fall back to sleep he would start crying again. He was glad that

this time he did not scream as he woke up from his nightmares. And he had

been having some twisted nightmares these past few nights. Usually they had

been nightmares about the things he had done while he had been, Jareth the

goblin king.

Angelous heard (As only vampyres can hear it) the racing of

Jareth's incredible and constant heart.

He said not a word but watched and observed as Jareth was about to

place his hands to his face and cry again.

"How many men have you killed?" Angelous asked suddenly.

Jareth was only slightly surprised that he had not known that Angelous was

sitting right there. He was only slightly startled as he turned to face

Angelous. He recognized Angelous' calm voice. It was the same tone he had

used all along but now Jareth felt mildly afraid and slightly timid. For a

moment he thought that Angelous had come up stairs to kill him for all that

he had done. But no. That was not why Angelous was here though Jareth was

perfectly ready for death and did feel as if he did deserve and most would

not have disagreed with him.

"What?" Jareth asked as he looked at Angelous curiously.

"I can't remember how many lives I took. When there were mortals

in abundance I plucked them from the vine of life as if they were grapes and

I guess I only realized the value of humanity after they began to die out."

Angelous leaned closed to Jareth who tried desperately to turn

away only to have his wrists grabbed by Angelous to keep his attention.

"What was it like, to live without a heart? What was it like to regret

nothing? What was it like to live without love in your heart? Was it empty?

Did nothing hold meaning? Did you never feel guilty? Was it fun? Was it

great fun to be the villain and love it, to love not loving? Would you want

that emptiness and emotionless-ness, that detachment again?"

Jareth began to weep uncontrollably. "Yes. That is the whole

point. Yes. Yes. Yes! I enjoyed it. I would do it all again. I liked who

I was when I was The Goblin King. I did not know love but I knew pleasure.

What was it like for you, when you fell in love with Sylvia? Did everything

change? Was it the same for you? Did you enjoy what you were but hated it

at the first thought of loving her, of protecting her? Did you suddenly

desire kindness, charity and dream of love? Is that what I tried to destroy

when I locked you away, your regret, her love, and all I stole was her

sanity... and my own salvation in the chance of understanding its value... of YOUR

value? ... YOU!?! You knew it all along, didn't you? All this time... all

along... you understood it all... .you knew! And I never saw your value to me.

It was you all along. You understood. Even as I stood there in that little

cell threatening your life and lying to her though I never knew why, you did.

You understood all along and you, you just excepted it, why? Why you? You

knew. You understood! My God! All this time the only one who understood it

all was a dark and dreary, love sick vampyre!"

Angelous nodded as he let go of Jareth's hands. "I understand what

you feel, Jareth. That is the only reason why I have not killed you, why I

did not let Sylvia do it. I see me when I look in to your eyes. I see me

and I see the creature that wants the pleasure of the wicked and violent ways

and yet I also see the man that understands love and yearns desperately to do

good."

"Yes. Yes! I understand. That was the real reason all along why

I did it to you, tortured you, hurt her with my lies and spoiled the night

with the poison that is... a dark heart."

Angelous turned away from Jareth and stared out in to the pouring

rain. "I understand you but I can just about as help you as much as I can

help myself which is not at all. I can forgive you and so can your son and

so can Sylvia and that immortal and his bimbo daughter down there but can you

forgive yourself? You must see yourself through your son's eyes. It is very

rare that anyone can get a second chance. You may think that we are

fortunate that we can live forever but those who are truly fortunate are

those who can live again. Don't you understand?"

Jareth stared at him blankly.

"You have a second chance and you can make a mends. You have it

in your son and in your life. You have all time to try and make up for what

you have done but it is in the moment that you forgive yourself that has the

true value. You claim to have had no responsibility for your previous

actions. Well, I think that's bull! You knew. You were there and though

you did not feel love in the proper sense of the word, you know you loved it."

"No. No!" Jareth shook his head. "You're wrong, Angelous. You

are wrong."

"No, I am not. Believe me. I know more about self hatred and

regret then you ever will. Crying won't help. And forgiveness from a

handful of others won't help. It is your own Hell and damnation that you can

not forgive yourself. Wallowing in self pity will not help. You feel

awkward and strange now and I can understand that. You think that by making

yourself feel bad about what you have done will make you feel better by

giving yourself in your sense of justice what you think you deserve but it

won't. And you must remember that you were never totally evil. Good and

evil are in perfect balance in each of us and in the darkness there is always

a spark of light just as shadows exist in the day light. Nothing is

absolute. Perhaps the best hero is the one that thought that he was the

villain and the worst villain is the one that thought of himself as being

good and righteous. The one that thought he was evil would do good simply

for the sake of doing good. And not because he fears damnation for he

already thinks of himself as damned and not for the want of praise for his is

hated by most and only does good for the sake of dong good and does it

anonymously. Meanwhile the villain who thinks of himself as good is another

story.

"The villain that thinks of himself as good, wants praise and

wants to be a hero and is absolutely sure that what he is doing is right when

in actuality it is wrong. It is all wrong. Men are made in to monsters and

monsters are made in to men this way. Do you understand me?"

"Yes. But which one am I?"

"I don't know. You tell me. Which one do you want to be?"

"I liked being the villain. I was good at it. It was expected

of me."

Yes, but isn't the unexpected better then living in a state of

your own self-conformity. We must never conform, even to our own standards.

If we are unwilling to change and adapt then we are unfit to live forever.

The universe is ever constant and yet ever changing to suit the needs of all

who dwell within it and that it dwells within. We must be like the universe.

We must be willing to change. If we do not choose to change... .evenfor our

own sakes we die and not by anyone's hands but by our own emptiness and

madness."

Angelous held out his hand to Jareth. "Now, it is your choice.

Come down stares and help us decide what to do with your left over life's

former priorities. We could have a riot of creatures of darkness on our

hands. We need you, Jareth, the man and not the goblin king."

"But it's so hard!"

"Is this fear I see in your eyes now? Jareth, the one who

conquered the night and his own darkness is afraid of a little ridicule? Are

you afraid, Jareth?"

Jareth refused to admit to being afraid so he made a slight gulp and

then he made his move.

Jareth reached out and took Angelous' cold hand and walked with him

down the hall.

"They're in the parlour, waiting for you. I am afraid that there

will be a few more awkward moments before your new life can truly begin,

Master Jareth."

Jareth looked at Angelous slightly confused. What did this mean?

Did this mean that they were allies now?

Angelous could almost read his thoughts and with a slight nod he

whispered, "Yes."

Angelous had never looked on anyone with respect except for himself

but now he saw himself in his new king and former enemy. And it was at that

moment that the two realized that they had more in common then they dared

realize. They were one and the same. They were from two sides of the same

coin as Jareth and Magus had used to be. And they would need each other's

companionship and forgiveness of each other and love for each other for all

time.

To: .

Subject: [labyfic] The Lost Land (Part 9 -? LAST part)

From:

Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 22:24:30 EDT

Magus knew what to do. The dagger stained in hyne's blood hung at

his side tied to his belt.

Jareth would not be expecting him. He knew that if he could get

to the castle before day break the next day he would be able to get Jareth

while he was vulnerable. Jareth's nocturnal creatures would be in their

daytime hibernation and as for the other creatures that resided around the

castle and within Watchers Woods, they would all be weak as any creature of

darkness is at least weaker in the day light.

Magus walked down the star lit path towards the castle of the Goblin

king. As he walked he did not know what to expect. Soon he began to hear

arguing and snarling in a near by clearing a she was drawing near to Jareth's

castle.

In the clearing there stood a vampyre feeding upon a small gnome

who was already dead and nearly rung out like a bloody sponge in the

loathsome creature's grip.

The vampyre quickly threw down his victim and looked up at Magus.

It was a hideous and nearly mindless vampyre that stared at Magus. His eyes

were red and his thick black hair was tangled and matted behind his deathly

pale face. He wore a long black shroud and his mouth was stained with blood.

The creature hissed as he exposed his fangs.

Seeing the vampyre frightened Magus. It made him believe that his

brother's power was growing.

The creature seemed to calm down a little as it looked up at Magus. "So ,

this is the keeper of the light? Ha. You don't frighten me."

"I don't frighten you, brave demon? But not too brave for a

fear of death most likely is what caused you to sacrifice your mortality at

the time of the great catastrophe. Prey, o' damned one, where is your master

this evening?"

The vampyre looked baffled. "Are you daft? A master? My master?

Jareth, you mean?" A small smile played on his lips for a moment as his

fang bit in to his lip just slightly. "I have no master."

"What happened to Jareth? Could it be that he is dead?"

"Dead? Well, in a sense he is dead. He is no longer our king.

His hold on us shattered at the moment that he mourned his son."

"His son?" Magus remembered a prophecy.

"Eye, the woman Adia, upon her death sent forth of herself within

her own womb the child to this present time and at the age is six or

seventeen the boy has found and won his father"

"Jared... You mean that Jared is in actuality Jareth's son?"

The vampyre was growing hungry and impatient. "Since you are the

last true ruler and the darkness can over power light with your destruction,

then I can defeat day right now as you are as a mortal. I can feed upon

thee."

The vampyre lunged at Magus who in return with one quick slice

pulled out his dagger and stabbed the creature right in the heart.

In terror of feeling pain for the first time in centuries the

creature pulled back. The dagger remained in Magus' hand as he watched in

utter disgust as the creature died.

At first the vampyre doubted it as he knew that he was an immortal

but then he reached down to his chest and he pulled his hand to his face

seeing the stained blood.

He was in too much shock to speak but gasped as he fell over. Then

with a furious growl the creature fell over. And with a great exploding of

dust and bone fragments the creature was gone leaving only a greasy pool of

green and black ooze with a bit of burnt fabric left.

The vampyre was dead and Magus was back on his way.

With his knew found knowledge Magus Knew that he could kill Jareth

and even round up all the creatures, darklings to join him on his quest and

rule both the dark and the light as only The great goddess, herself could.

In the castle of the goblins Jareth cautiously walked behind

Angelous who led him in to the parlor where the others sat.

Trina and Jared stood up as Meloth only looked on in shock at the

sight of Jareth behind Angelous.

I don't believed it!" Meloth gasped.

"How did you do it?" Trina asked.

"You did it." Jared said as he ran to embrace his father who

willingly excepted the undeserved affection.

Angelous felt that it should have been a somber moment but he could not

repress a smug smile of self-indulged gratitude.

Just then as they all clambered around Jareth trying not to make

him feel out of place but more or less welcome in their midst Sylvia fell

over in pain.

She cried out once as she grabbed her stomach in agony and then fell

to her knees. Angelous ran to her aid.

Seeing no physical wound he whispered to his lover, "Sylvia, what's

wrong."

With red tears in her eyes Sylvia gasped, "He's dead. He's dead.

My son is dead. My fledgling, Chris has just been killed. I felt the death

blow."

"But who would do such a thing... and how? Obviously this was no

ordinary slaying. This wasn't done by a wooden stake or exposure to sun

light. This was done some other way."

Jareth knew. He could remember his dream vividly.

Jareth fell back in to an arm chair as Angelous helped Sylvia to

her feet.

"I know who did it." Jareth sighed almost hoping that the others

would not hear him.

Jared was curious. "You do? Who was it? How?"

"Last night I had a dream that repeated itself again and again in

my head. It was an omen. Magus has killed the hyne, Geado for her blood.

He intends to slay me."

"Magus? But doesn't he know about the prophecy?"

Jareth only half remembered his powers as he made an elaborate

waving gesture with his hand causing a glowing crystal ball to appear in his

hands.

In the crystal orb he could see the image of Magus walking along

a dirt path through Watchers Woods. On his belt he held a dagger stained in

two shades of blood.

"He's coming." Jareth said. "He had gone mad. He wants me dead.

He cares not about the old rules. He only wants me dead. He's on his way

here."

(... To be continued by anyone who wished to take up the challenge or if you

wish to know how I had intended to end this story E-mail me and I can give

you a rough idea on it but I shall never be the one to complete this.)


End file.
